-The Indian Express A day after the deadline for implementation of the Right To Education (RTE) Act expired, representatives of the Delhi State Public Schools Association (DSPSA) met Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and Education Minister Kiran Walia, seeking a reprieve. Speaking to Newsline, Walia said, "We have already brought down the minimum area requirement to 200 square meters. Beyond this, there are concerns of fire safety and other issues." She said the delegation...

-The Economic Times Should drug companies make clinical trials data public? All over the world, drug regulators are increasingly in favour of doing so, much to the discomfort of pharmaceutical companies, and the London-based European Medicines Agency (EMA) is the first mover in this regard. As the journal Nature reports, EMA is likely to do so by next year, at least for some clinical trials data. On April 19, all the...

-The Hindu The Supreme Court order rejecting a plea to grant patent protection for Glivec, a cancer-fighting drug from Novartis, is a landmark. It will greatly strengthen the quest for access to affordable medicines in India. The decision affirms the idea that a patent regime loses its social relevance when a drug is priced beyond the reach of the vast majority of a country's people. That pharmaceutical companies employ high pricing...

-The Hindu   Despite apparent similarities, the reports of two centrally appointed committees are split on the relationship between knowledge, skills and social needs Two major reports with overlapping concerns were submitted to the central government during the last decade. They were drafted by committees appointed by two different offices of the same government. One was chaired by Yash Pal, and the other by Sam Pitroda. The titles of the two committees indicated...

-Tehelka A public issue is not truly public unless Markandey Katju has passed judgement. Rahul Kotiyal and Ajachi Chakrabarti stand downwind "Journalists" writes Markandey Katju, with little sense of irony, "comment on everything under the sun." He goes on to say that when the shoe is on the other foot, when someone comments on journalism, it is misconstrued as an attack on press freedom. That when he announces he is appointing a...